Optical disc, recording apparatus, reproducing apparatus, program, computer-readable recording medium, recording method and reproducing method

ABSTRACT

A recording apparatus for an optical disc is provided which stores a VOB, the recording apparatus performing: receiving, from an operator, an operation to specify a preceding reproduction section and a subsequent reproduction section from the VOB through an interactive screen; duplicating an end vicinity including an end point of the beginning vicinity, and a beginning vicinity including a starting point of the subsequent reproduction section; connecting the duplicated parts to yield a connected part; and writing the connected part to the optical disc in correspondence with Temp_Cell information, the reproduction sections being specified by Cell information which includes Temp_Cell_FLAG, the Temp_Cell_FLAG, 1) if set to be off, indicating a sequential reproduction of the preceding and subsequent reproduction sections, and 2) if set to be on, indicating a reproduction of the connected part between the reproduction of the preceding and subsequent reproduction sections.

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/995,757,filed Nov. 29, 2001 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,187,842.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(1) Field of the Invention

This invention relates to an apparatus for recording and reproducingthat performs recording and reproducing for an optical disc such asDVD-RAM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW and the like, and especially to theimprovement in editing moving image data recorded on an optical disc.

(2) Description of the Background Art

In editing moving images, risks always exist for damaging the originalmoving images by mistakes that occur in editing and the like. Consumerappliances that are used by the general public, unlike the ones used bythe professionals in producing moving images, require special care. Inresponse to such a request, DVD recording apparatuses that have appearedrecently, are equipped with a virtual editing function, in addition to areal editing function. A virtual editing is an editing operation inwhich pointer information is defined according to a user operation, thepointer information specifying pieces of picture data being the startingand ending points of one reproduction section. Unlike a real editingwhich requires modification of original moving images, the virtualediting is characterized in that no modification is executed fororiginal moving images. Due to this character, the virtual editingenables a beginner in editing moving images to deal with the movingpicture editing without feeling anxious.

On the other hand, in the virtual editing, a seamless image display isnot assured when two reproduction sections are reproduced in succession.This is because the two reproduction sections are disposed in separatepositions from each other in one disc, which requires a random access tothe two reproduction sections.

In addition, moving image data recorded on a DVD contains many pieces ofpicture data that have been compression-encoded in accordance with theMPEG standard to correlate to pieces of picture data in front and rear.These pieces are assumed to be decoded and reproduced sequentially fromthe beginning. Suppose here that two reproduction sections that are notoriginally continuous to each other are specified in the virtualediting. In this case, the last picture data of the precedingreproduction section and the first picture data of the subsequentreproduction section have been encoded on the assumption that they willnot be reproduced continuously. This makes it difficult for the tworeproduction sections to be reproduced sequentially, due to the encodingmethod as stated above. As a result, an interruption will often occur atthe transition between the two reproduction sections during thereproduction.

On the contrary, moving images in movies or television broadcasts thatare edited by professional editors are provided with a variety of visualeffects. Compared to the results of these moving images that arefamiliar to the general public, results of the virtual editing tend toleave users wanting for more.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention, in view of the stated problems, isto provide an optical disc which can store moving image data, by which avariety of modifications at the transition between reproduction sectionsare made possible, while a recovery is assured when the editing effortfails.

The above object is achieved by an optical disc storing: moving imagedata, at least two pieces of reproduction section information thatspecify a preceding reproduction section and a subsequent reproductionsection on the moving image data; a duplicated part which is obtained,for a modification purpose, by duplicating an end vicinity of thepreceding reproduction section and a beginning vicinity of thesubsequent reproduction section; and a flag, if set to be on, indicatesreproduction of a part before the end vicinity and a part after thebeginning vicinity via the duplicated part, and if set to be off,indicates sequential reproduction of the preceding reproduction sectionand the subsequent reproduction section without via the duplicated part.

The above structure provides the ability to duplicate an end vicinity ofa preceding reproduction section and a beginning vicinity of asubsequent reproduction section and to write the duplicated part to anoptical disc, which enables a variety of modifications for a visualeffect to this duplicated part. When the editing succeeds, the opticaldisc sets the flag on, by which the reproduction apparatus reproducesapart before the end vicinity of a reproduction section and a part afterthe beginning vicinity of a subsequent reproduction section via theduplicated part. This enables a user to reproduce the editing result.

When the editing fails or is not complete, the optical disc sets theflag off, by which the reproduction apparatus reproduces the precedingand subsequent reproduction sections without the duplicated part.

The above structure assures the recovery when the editing fails, whichincreases the opportunities for users to provide a variety of editingtechniques that involve modification.

Further, the duplicated part is limited to be the end vicinity of thepreceding reproduction section and the beginning vicinity of thesubsequent reproduction section, which does not increase the data amountwhich will cause the optical disc to be full in capacity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other objects, advantages and features of the invention willbecome apparent from the following description thereof taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings that illustrate a specificembodiment of the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing directories and files included in aDVD;

FIG. 2A is a diagram which shows an internal structure of a managementfile;

FIG. 2B is a diagram detailing a hierarchical structure inside a GOP;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an internal structure of a management file;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a relation between TMAPI and VOBU;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing how a reproduction section isspecified by CELL information #x, #x+1;

FIG. 6A-FIG. 6D are diagrams showing each of modification techniques;

FIG. 7A-FIG. 7B are diagrams showing how to set an end vicinity and abeginning vicinity, when the modification technique is a seamlessconnection;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a duplicated part which is written for thepurpose of data modification;

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a DVD on which the VOB #z, #z+1, VOBinformation #z, #z+1, and Temp_Cell information #z, #z+1 are written.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a data structure of CELL information ofPlaylist information relating to the first embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing how a VOB is specified by CELLinformation and Temp_Cell information that are shown by FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing which part is specified by the CELLinformation and the Temp_Cell information that are depicted in FIG. 9;

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an internal structure of a recordingapparatus;

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of an interactive screen usedfor a virtual editing;

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a process in which an address•time codeconversion unit 7 specifies the address of a VOBU from a time code;

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a process in which an address•time codeconversion unit 7 specifies the address of a VOBU from a time code;

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a process in which an address•time codeconversion unit 7 specifies the address of a VOBU from a time code;

FIG. 18 is a flow chart showing a transactional procedure for thePlaylist writing control unit 8;

FIG. 19 is a flow chart showing a transactional procedure for thePlaylist writing control unit 8;

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an internal structure of a reproductionapparatus relating to the third embodiment;

FIG. 21 is a flow chart showing a transactional procedure for thePlaylist reproduction control unit 9;

FIG. 22 is a flow chart showing a transactional procedure for thePlaylist reproduction control unit 9;

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing a reading range specified at Step S44 and areproducing range specified at Step S45;

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing a reading range specified at Step S50 and areproducing range specified at Step S50;

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing an internal structure of a recordingapparatus relating to the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing an internal structure of a reproductionapparatus relating to the fifth embodiment;

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing an internal structure of a reproductionapparatus relating to the sixth embodiment;

FIG. 28A-FIG. 28C are diagrams showing how a wipe transition isperformed;

FIG. 29A-FIG. 29C are diagrams showing how a slide transition isperformed; and

FIG. 30 is a diagram showing an internal structure of a reproductionapparatus relating to the seventh embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First Embodiment

The following is a description about an optical disc according to afirst embodiment of the present invention with reference to thedrawings. The optical disc according to the first embodiment is a phasechange optical disc. Specifically, the optical disc is assumed to be aDVD-RAM, DVD-RW (hereafter abbreviated as “DVD”) and the like which canstore moving image data in accordance with the DVD-video recordingstandard.

The DVD stores directories and files as depicted in FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, aVIDEO_RTAV (RealTime Recording Audio Video) Directory is providedimmediately under a ROOT directory, and under the VIDEO_RTAV directory,an AV file which contains a VOB and a management file which contains avariety of management information is provided.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram showing a hierarchical structure of a VOBcontained in an AV file. A VOB (Video Object) is a program stream inaccordance with an ISO/IEC13818-1 which is obtained by multiplexing avideo stream and an audio stream. The VOB does not end withprogram_end_code. In FIG. 2A, the video stream situated in the firstcolumn is a sequence of picture data. A picture data sequence is dividedinto several GOP as depicted in the second column. Picture data dividedin each GOP is then divided into 2K Bytes. On the other hand, the audiostream situated on the right hand side of the first column is dividedinto 2K Bytes as depicted as the third column. The picture data in 2KBytes and the audio stream in 2K Bytes are interleave multiplexed togenerate a pack sequence depicted in the fourth column. The packsequence will then be grouped into several VOBUs (Video Object Units). AVOB depicted in the sixth column has a structure of arranging aplurality of VOBUs in chronological order. The dotted leader lines inFIG. 2A makes it clear about which part of the upper logical formatcorresponds to which part of the lower logical format. According to theleader lines, the VOBU in the fifth column corresponds to the packsequence in the fourth column, and further to the picture data groupedinto a GOP depicted in the second column.

As obvious from the correspondence shown by the leader lines, a VOBU isa unit including at least one GOP which consists of picture data whosereproduction time is approximately 0.4-1.0 second and audio datamultiplexed therewith, and is structured as sequences of video pack andaudio pack in accordance with a MPEG standard.

Next, picture data included in a GOP is described. FIG. 2B shows aninternal structure of a GOP. The picture data is converted into one fromthe group consisting of a bidirectionally predictive (B) picture, apredictive (P) picture, and an intra (I) picture. The B picture iscompressed using correlation with the image to be reproduced eitherbefore or after the picture. The P picture is compressed usingcorrelation with the image to be reproduced before the picture, and theI picture is compressed using the spatial frequency response for oneframe of image, without using correlations with other pictures. Picturedata is displayed in about 1/33 second which is one display period(which is also called video frame).

Next, the management file is described. FIG. 3 is a block diagramshowing an internal structure of the management file. The managementfile consists of a M_AVFI table and a PGCI table as depicted in FIG. 3.

The M_AVFI (Motion AV File Information) table is a management tablerelating to a VOB. And as the dotted leader line hy1 shows, themanagement table consists of attribute information relating to VOB (VOBSTI (Stream Information) #1 . . . #K) and (VOBI #1 . . . #L).

The VOB STI shows video attributes of picture data included in each VOB(such as coding mode, aspect ratio, NTSC/PAL, line 12 information, andso on), and audio attributes of audio data included in each VOB (such ascoding mode, number of channels, frequency, and so on).

The VOBI (Video Object Information), as the dotted leader line hy2shows, consists of a VOB type (VOB_Type), a reproduction starting timeshowing a time in which a reproduction of the first picture dataincluded in the video stream of the VOB (VOB_Start_PTM) starts, areproduction ending time which shows a time in which a reproduction ofthe last picture data included in the video stream of the VOB(VOB_End_PTM) ends, recording date/time information for the beginning ofthe VOB (VOB_REC_TM), a pointer which specifies, by an arrow Pr1, aparticular VOB among the VOBSTI #1 . . . #K (VOB_STIN), and time mapinformation for each VOBU which constitutes the VOB (TMAPI). The TMAPIincludes, as the dotted leader line hy3 shows, TMAP_GI, TM_ENT #1˜#S,and VOBU_ENT #1˜#T.

The VOBU_ENT is information corresponding to each VOBU, and as thedotted leader line hy4 shows, includes a picture size of I picture whichis situated at the beginning of the corresponding VOBU (1STREF_SZ),reproducing time corresponding to the VOBU (VOBU_PB_TM), and a size ofthe corresponding VOBU (VOBU_SZ). The TM_ENT is information showing eachtime entry in every 10 seconds, and includes, as the dotted leader linehy5 shows, VOBU_ENTN showing the VOBU in which this time entry isincluded, TM_DIFF which shows the offset time between the beginning ofthe VOBU identified by the VOBU_ENTN and the time entry, and VOBU_ADRwhich shows the offset data from the beginning of VOB to the beginningof the VOBU identified by the VOBU_ENTN.

The TMAP_GI is information managing the whole TMAPI, and includes, asthe dotted leader line hy6 shows, TM_ENT_Ns which shows the number oftime entry set in one VOB, VOBU_ENT_Ns which shows the number ofVOBU_ENT included in the TMAPI, TM_OFS which shows the offset betweenthe beginning of the VOB and one time entry, and ADR_OFS which shows theoffset from the beginning of the AV file to the beginning of the VOB.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the relation between TMAPI andVOBU. As FIG. 4 shows, a correspondence between the reproducing time ofeach VOBU and the size of the VOBU are identified by the correspondencebetween VOBU_PB_TM (i.e. PB_TM in FIG. 4) and VOBU_SZ. Further, TM_DIFFin each TM_ENT shows how many seconds after the reproduction of the VOBUstarts it reaches where the time entry is. From the TMAPI structure asdepicted so far, the VOBU that corresponds to an arbitrary time code isidentified.

Next, the PGCI table is described. The PGCI table includes a pluralitypieces of Playlist information. The Playlist information (abbreviated asPLI in FIG. 3) is a sequence of CELL information, and is a reproductionlist which orders the reproduction apparatus to sequentially reproducethe reproduction sections.

The CELL information (abbreviated as CELLI in FIG. 3) is pointerinformation showing the reproduction section specified as a result of avirtual editing operation by a user. Specifically, in a virtual editingoperation, the beginning of the reproduction section (In point) and theending thereof (Out point) are specified. The CELL information includesVOBI_SRP which identifies the VOB, Cell_Start_PTM which shows a timecode specifying the picture data, in the VOB, which corresponds to theIn point, and Cell_End_PTM which is a time code specifying the picturedata, in the VOB, which corresponds to the Out point. The time code hasthe same accuracy in time as the video frame which is the display periodof the picture data. The CELL information has the same accuracy in timeas the video frame accordingly.

The order of the pieces of CELL information in the Playlist informationshows the order of the reproduction sections. That is, if the Playlistinformation includes CELL information in an order of CELL information#1, #2, #3, the corresponding reproduction sections #1, #2, and #3 areto be reproduced in the order of #1, #2, #3. FIG. 5 is a schematicdiagram showing how a reproduction section is specified by the CELLinformation #x, #x+1. As FIG. 5 shows, reproduction sections are definedby a three layer structure; VOB-VOB information-CELL information. Forexample, if an assumption is made that for the CELL information #x inFIG. 5, a user sets an In point and an Out point corresponding to thereproduction section #x, and that for the CELL information #x+1, theuser sets an In point and an Out point corresponding to the reproductionsection #x+1. VOBI_SRP included in the CELL information #x specifies VOB#x through the VOB information #x, as the arrow vy1 shows.Cell_Start_PTM in the CELL information #x, as the arrow vy2 shows, showsthe In point for the reproduction section #x. Finally, Cell_End_PTM inthe CELL information #x shows the Out point for the reproduction section#x, as the arrow vy3 shows.

On the other hand, The CELL information #x+1 specifies the reproductionsection #x+1. VOBI_SRP in CELL information #x+1, as the arrow xy4 shows,specifies VOB #x+1 through VOB information #x+1. Cell_Start_PTM in theCELL information #x+1 shows, as the arrow vy5 shows, the In point forthe reproduction section #x+1. Cell_End_PTM in the CELL information #x+1shows, as the arrow vy6 shows, the Out point for the reproductionsection #x+1. The Playlist information is to be treated as one editingresult consisting of a CELL information sequence.

The picture data specified by the CELL information includes a pluralityof picture data compression-encoded according to a MPEG standard basedon the between-frame correlations. This compression-encoding operationassumes that all the pieces of picture data of the VOB (VOBU) arereproduced sequentially from the beginning.

On the contrary, a sequential reproduction of more than two reproductionsections as depicted in FIG. 5 in such a way that the picture data atthe end of the preceding reproduction section and the picture data atthe beginning of the subsequent reproduction section are sequentiallyreproduced are against the assumption stated above. Therefore, it isdifficult to sequentially reproduce a plurality of reproduction sectionsspecified by Playlist information. Accordingly, interruption in themoving images occurs frequently between the preceding and subsequentreproduction sections. This means that every time the reproductionsection switches from one to another, interruption occurs in thereproduced images. The editing result defined by Playlist informationwill be as if it were a patchwork quilt with interruptions here andthere.

To have an editing result of high quality without image interruption,some modification of data is required in-between the reproductionsections. The modification techniques that make the transitions betweenreproduction sections smooth include a seamless connection, a fade-outconnection, a fade-in connection, a cross-fade connection, and so on.FIG. 6A-FIG. 6D depicts each modification technique. Note that hereafterin this specification, the parts to be modified by the stated technologywill be referred to as “end vicinity of a preceding reproductionsection” and “beginning vicinity of a subsequent reproduction section”respectively. An assumption is made such that the end vicinity in FIG.6A-FIG. 6D includes 4 pieces of picture data such as PC1-PC4, and thatthe beginning vicinity includes 4 pieces of picture data such asPC5-PC8.

FIG. 6A depicts a seamless connection. In FIG. 6, a seamless connectionis conducted in such a way that after the last picture data PC4 isreproduced at the end vicinity of the preceding reproduction section, inone video frame, the first picture data PC5 in the beginning vicinity ofthe subsequent reproduction section is displayed. This modificationtechnique reduces interruption in reproduction.

FIG. 6B depicts a fade-out connection. This is a modification techniquein which the lightness is being decreased gradually during thereproduction of the picture data from PC1 to PC3, with the lowestlightness at the reproduction of the picture data PC4. Then, picturedata PC5 will be displayed at the beginning vicinity of the subsequentreproduction section.

FIG. 6C shows a fade-in connection. This connection technique isconducted in such a way that after the picture data PC4 at the endvicinity of the preceding reproduction section is reproduced, thepicture data PC5 at the beginning vicinity is reproduced with the lowestlightness, and then the lightness will be increased gradually during thedisplay of picture data PC6-PC8.

FIG. 6D depicts a cross-fade connection. The picture data PC1-PC4 thatbelong to the end vicinity are displayed with gradually decreasinglightness just as FIG. 6B, while the picture data PC5-PC8 that belong tothe beginning vicinity are displayed with gradually increasing lightnessjust as FIG. 6C. Specifically, several combined images are created as aresult of each picture data set, such as PC1 and PC5, PC2 and PC6, PC3and PC7, PC4 and PC8, and the combined images are displayed in such away that at the time PC4 is displayed with the lowest lightness, the PC8belonging to the subsequent reproduction section is displayed. The aboveare the descriptions of the modification techniques that make thetransition between the reproduction sections look smooth in the editingresults.

Note that the modification in this specification includes othermodification techniques than that yielding visual effects that make theresulting transition between reproduction sections look more smooth.These other modification techniques include such techniques as computergraphics, a synthesizing of animation, adding of superimposing text, andso on, all of which are transactions that involve data operations forVOBs.

Next, how to set the end vicinity and the beginning vicinity isdescribed.

FIG. 7A-FIG. 7B are diagrams depicting how to set the end vicinity andthe beginning vicinity when the modification technique is a seamlessconnection.

FIG. 7A assumes that the end vicinity begins with the VOBU # (Out) whichincludes the Out point belonging to the preceding reproduction sectioninside the preceding VOB #x and ends with the VOBU which is the secondVOBU ahead from the VOBU (Out), and assumes that the beginning vicinityis the VOBU which includes In point for the subsequent reproductionsection among the subsequent CELL information #x+1.

The reason why the assumption is made that the end vicinity includes upto the second VOBU ahead to be encoded, is that to maintain thesynchronizing reproduction between the audio data. Since picture data iscompression-encoded in relation to other picture data, the picture datawill not be reproduced immediately after when read from the DVD, but hasto wait after the subsequent picture data is reproduced. Therefore, thepicture data will be stored in a buffer inside the reproductionapparatus until it is reproduced. The maximum time period that thepicture data is stored in the buffer is 1 second. On the other hand,audio data will not be stored in the buffer, or when it is, the timeperiod is very short. Thus, the picture data stored in the GOP sometimeswill be reproduced at the same time as the audio data read from a DVD 1second later than the picture data is read out.

The audio data which is read, from the DVD, 1 second after a particularpicture data is read is 1 or 2 VOBU ahead from the picture data itself.This means that the picture data included in a VOBU will be associatedwith a VOBU which is one or two pieces ahead of the subsequent VOBU. Dueto this relationship, up to a VOBU which is two pieces ahead of the VOBUis designed to be re-encoded.

Note that the reason why the end and beginning vicinities are defined asthe above is detailed in the U.S. Pat. No. 6,148,140. Please refer tothis publication for the details.

Further, in a seamless connection, the required total reproduction timeperiod for the preceding reproduction sections will be longer than apredetermined length. This is because if the reproduction time period isshort, the buffer cannot store enough data while reproducing thepreceding reproduction section, which causes an underflow during diskseek caused by random access to the subsequent reproduction sectionafter the preceding reproduction section.

On the other hand, as FIG. 7A depicts, in such a modification as afade-out connection, a fade-in connection, or a cross-fade connection,the end vicinity includes a VOBU which is jth VOBU from the VOBUincluding the Out point in a backward direction, and the beginningvicinity includes a kth VOBU from the VOBU including the In point in aforward direction.

Each of j and k is a number of VOBUs that have a visual effect in such amodification as a fade-in, a fade-out, and a cross-fade. Therefore, theactual number changes due to each user's sensitivities on specificallywhat kind of visual effect they would like to have in editing, whichchanges case by case.

Moreover, the length of the end vicinity is usually different from thatof the beginning vicinity. However, to facilitate understanding, in thisspecification, the end vicinity is assumed to be only VOBU # (Out) whichincludes the Out point, and the beginning vicinity is only VOBU # (In)which includes the In point. This is the end of the description aboutthe modification for VOBs. An important point to remember is that avirtual editing does not conduct modification for the original VOB inprinciple. Accordingly, these modification techniques cannot be directlyapplied to the original VOB.

From the above point, in this embodiment, the end vicinity of thepreceding reproduction section and the beginning vicinity of thesubsequent reproduction section, both included in a VOB, are duplicated.The duplicated part is then recorded on a DVD for modification purposes.

FIG. 8 shows a duplicated part which is written on a DVD for datamodification purposes. In FIG. 8, duplication is performed according tothe arrows Cy1 and Cy2. VOB #z in FIG. 8 is a duplicated part in whichthe end vicinity of the preceding reproduction section is duplicated(i.e. from the VOBU # (Out) including the Out point to the second VOBUfrom the VOBU # (Out)). VOB #z+1 is a duplicated part in which thebeginning vicinity of the subsequent reproduction section is duplicated(i.e. VOBU # (In) including the In point).

Just as for the other VOB, for the stated VOB #z and VOB #z+1,corresponding VOB information #z, and #z+1 are set, and the reproductionsection is specified by Temp_Cell information #z and Temp_Cellinformation #z+1. FIG. 9 shows a DVD on which VOB #z, VOB #z+1, and VOBinformation #z, VOB information #z+1, Temp_Cell information #z, andTemp_Cell information #z+1 are written. As the arrows by1 and by2 show,the VOB information #z and VOB information #z+1 are written, and thearrows by3 and by4 show, Temp_Cell information #z and Temp_Cellinformation #z+1 are written on the DVD. As the above statementsuggests, the three layer structure “VOB-VOB information-CELLinformation” defines the reproduction section in the duplicated part.The difference between these VOB #z, #z+1 and other VOBs is that VOB #z,#z+1 are specified by a special type of cell information which is“Temp_Cell information.” The Temp_Cell information is CELL informationwhich specifies the reproduction section to be reproduced, by linking,between the preceding reproduction section specified by precedent CELLinformation in the Playlist information and the subsequent reproductionsection specified by subsequent CELL information. The VOB #z, and VOB#z+1 specified by Temp_Cell information #z and Temp_Cell information#z+1 each are the duplicated part to be modified. Therefore, by makingthe Temp_Cell information specify these VOB #z, and VOB #z+1, theseduplicated parts to be modified will be reproduced after thereproduction of the preceding reproduction section #x, and before thereproduction of the subsequent reproduction section #x+1.

Next, the data structure of Temp_Cell information and the data structureof CELL information when Temp_Cell information is set are described withreference to FIG. 10. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the data structure ofthe CELL information in the Playlist information, which relates to thefirst embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a schematicdiagram showing how the VOB is specified by the CELL information and theTemp_Cell information shown in FIG. 10. The boxes framed with thicklines wk1, wk2, and wk3 show the differences between the internalstructure of the Playlist information of FIG. 10 and the Playlistinformation shown in FIG. 3. The Playlist information of FIG. 10includes the Temp_Cell information #1-#M (abbreviated as Temp_CellI inthe figure) in addition to the CELL information #1-#N in FIG. 3. As wk3shows, Temp_Cell information is comprised of VOBI_SRP which identifiesthe corresponding VOB, Cell_Start_PTM showing the starting point of thereproduction section of the VOB, Cell_End_PTM showing the end point ofthe reproduction section of the VOB, and Temp_Cell_SRP which indicatesthe Temp_Cell information to be subsequent to this Temp_Cellinformation. The Temp_Cell_SRP indicates a link to the VOB #z+1 from theVOB #z, shown as the arrow yp1 in FIG. 11.

In addition, the arrows cy1, cy2, cy3, and cy4 in FIG. 11 show how theCell_Start_PTM and Cell_End_PTM in the Temp_Cell information arespecified. The Cell_Start_PTM in the Temp_Cell information #z, as thearrow cy1 in FIG. 11 shows, specifies the picture data situated at thebeginning of the VOB #z, and the Cell_End_PTM, as the arrow cy2 shows,specifies the same picture data as the Out point which is specified by auser. The Cell_End_PTM in the Temp_Cell information #z+1, as the arrowcy3 shows, specifies the picture data situated at the last part of theVOB #z+1. And the Cell_Start_PTM, as the arrow cy4 shows, specifies thesame picture data as the In point which is specified by a user, for theVOB #z+1. The VOB #z and VOB #z+1 are the duplicated part for the endvicinity of the preceding reproduction section and the duplicated partof the beginning vicinity of the subsequent reproduction sectionrespectively. Accordingly, the Cell_End_PTM of the Temp_Cell information#z specifies the same picture data as the Cell_End_PTM in the CELLinformation #x, and the Cell_Start_PTM of the Temp_Cell information #z+1specifies the same picture data specified by the Cell_Start_PTM in theCELL information #x+1.

Next, the data structure of the CELL information in FIG. 10 isdescribed. The CELL information in FIG. 10 is the same as that of FIG. 3in that VOBI_SRP, Cell_Start_PTM, and Cell_End_PTM are specified. Thedifference between the CELL information in FIG. 3 is in the frame wk2,in which Trimming_Start_PTM, Trimming_End_PTM, Temp_Cell_SRP,Effect_Type, and Temp_Cell_FLAG are specified.

Temp_Cell_SRP is pointer information identifying the Temp_Cellinformation of the duplicated part to be reproduced. Due to theTemp_Cell_SRP, the link sy1 from the CELL information #x to theTemp_Cell information #z in FIG. 11 is clearly shown. The reason why thelink relation shown by the Temp_Cell_SRP specifies a reproduction viathe Temp_Cell information is to take into consideration the duplicatedparts (i.e. VOB #z and VOB #z+1) being unified into one VOB or beingdivided into three or more pieces due to a modification. For example,when the VOB #z+1 is unified into VOB #z, the updating is performed sothat the Cell_Start_PTM and the Cell_End_PTM in the Temp_Cellinformation #z cover the entire new VOB #z, and to delete theTemp_Cell_SRP included in the Temp_Cell information #z+1.

Further, in case that the VOB #z+1 is divided into VOB #z+1 and VOB#z+2, the Temp_Cell information #z+1 will be divided into Temp_Cellinformation #z+1 and Temp_Cell information #z+2. In such a case, thereproduction section for the VOB #z+1 will be specified by the Temp_Cellinformation #z+1, and likewise, the reproduction section for the VOB#z+2 will be specified by the Temp_Cell information #z+2. Then, the linkbetween Temp_Cell information #z+1 and #z+2 will be specified by theTemp_Cell_SRP. This method realizes that the Temp_Cell informationindicates the link relation between the duplicated parts that have apossibility of being unified or divided. Therefore, if the duplicatedparts are actually unified or divided, only the Temp_Cell information,not the CELL information, has to be updated. This minimizes time andtrouble in updating processes.

Trimming_Start_PTM is a time code showing the picture data situatedimmediately after the end of the beginning vicinity.

Trimming_End_PTM is a time code showing the picture data situatedimmediately before the end vicinity. The Trimming_Start_PTM and theTrimming_End_PTM helps evade the overlapping of the same content whenreproducing via the Temp_Cell information. That is, the Out point andthe In point that a user specifies overlap each other, since theCell_End_PTM of the CELL information #x specifies the Out point for theend vicinity of the duplicated part, and the Cell_Start_PTM of the CELLinformation #x+1 specifies the In point of the beginning vicinity of theduplicated part, which means that a part from the beginning of the endvicinity to the Out point, and a part from the In point to the end ofthe beginning vicinity will overlap in reproduction. To deal with thisproblem, the embodiment is equipped with Trimming_End_PTM andTrimming_Start_PTM in order to specify the picture data situatedimmediately after the beginning vicinity and the picture data situatedimmediately before the end vicinity. In FIG. 11, Cell_End_PTM of theCELL information #x specifies the range framed by the dotted line bs1.On the other hand, Trimming_End_PTM of the CELL information #x specifiesthe last picture data of the VOBU # (PreEdge) situated immediatelybefore the end vicinity, as shown by the arrow gy1. Likewise, theCell_Start_PTM of the CELL information #x+1 specifies the range framedby the dotted line bs2. On the other hand, the Trimming_Start_PTM of theCELL information #x+1, as shown by the arrow gy2, specifies thebeginning picture data of the VOBU # (PostEdge). The stated “immediatelybefore” and “immediately after” specification is made so as to evade theoverlapping in reproduction, when reproduction is performed via theTemp_Cell information.

As seen in the above, the data structure of FIG. 10 enables, in areproduction not via the Temp_Cell information, reproduction of theentire part included in both the preceding and subsequent reproductionsections, so as to include the end vicinity and the beginning vicinityshown by bs1 and bs2 respectively, based on the Cell_End_PTM and theCell_Start_PTM. In a reproduction via the Temp_Cell information, on theother hand, the data structure indicates reproduction immediately beforethe end vicinity of the preceding reproduction section and immediatelyafter the beginning vicinity of the subsequent reproduction section,based on the Trimming_End_PTM and the Trimming_Start_PTM.

Effect_Type shows what types of visual effect is specified inmodification for the VOB identified by the Temp_Cell information. Here,the visual effect types include such as a seamless connection, a fade-inconnection, fade-out connection, and a cross-fade connection that arestated in the above.

Temp_Cell_FLAG, when set to be “0” (i.e. off), shows a directreproduction according to the subsequent CELL information withoutreferring to Temp_Cell information. And when set to be “1” (i.e. on), itinstructs to refer to Temp_Cell information before referring tosubsequent CELL information. Two examples in which Temp_Cell_FLAG is setto be “0” are 1) when enough free space on a DVD is not guaranteed forwriting the duplicated part, and 2) even if there was enough free spacefor writing the duplicated part, the result of the modification such asre-encoding and so on has turned out to be poor, and a user does notwant the reproduction thereof. On the contrary, an example in whichTemp_Cell_FLAG is set to be “1” is that when the modification for theduplicated part has turned out to be a success, and a user would like torefer to the Temp_Cell information which specifies the modifiedduplicated part.

The existence of Temp_Cell_FLAG enables the switching betweenreproduction via/not-via Temp_Cell information. FIG. 12 is an example inwhich the CELL information and the Temp_Cell information shown in FIG.10 are specified, in accordance with the example of FIG. 9. TheTemp_Cell SRP in the CELL information #x, as the arrow sy1 shows,specifies the Temp_Cell information #z, and the Temp_Cell_SRP of theTemp_Cell information #x, as the arrow yp1 shows, specifies theTemp_Cell information #z+1. Trimming_End_PTM of the CELL information #x,as the arrow gy1 shows, specifies the picture data situated at the endof the VOBU # (PreEdge), and the Trimming_Start_PTM of the CELLinformation #x+1 specifies the picture data situated at the beginning ofthe VOBU # (PostEdge), respectively. The Cell_Start_PTM of the Temp_Cellinformation #z, as the arrow cy1 shows, shows the picture data situatedat the beginning of the VOB #z, the Cell_End_PTM of the Temp_Cellinformation #z, as the arrow cy2 shows, shows the Out point for the VOB#z, and the Cell_Start_PTM of the VOB #z+1, as the arrow cy4 shows,shows In point of the VOB #z, and Cell_End_PTM of VOB #z+1, as the arrowcy3 shows, shows the end of the VOB #z+1, respectively. The Temp_CellFLAG shows whether the reproduction should be performed according to theorder of the arrows sy1, yp1, sy2, or the direct reproduction should beperformed from the CELL information #x to the CELL information #x+1, asshown by the arrow ty0.

The above embodiment enables duplicating the end vicinity of a precedingreproduction section as well as the beginning vicinity of a subsequentreproduction section, and writing the duplicated part on a DVD formodification purposes. This enables modification techniques yielding avariety of visual effects for the duplicated part while maintaining theprinciple of the virtual editing. When the editing succeeded, thereproduction of the duplicated part is realized by making thetemp_Cell_FLAG for the CELL information set to be on. This enables asmooth reproduction of the reproduction section sequence specified bythe Playlist information, without interruption during reproduction.

Moreover, the fact that the recovery is assured when the editing failedis assured is an advantage for users who dare to try varieties ofediting techniques such as fade-in, fade-out, cross-fade, and so on.

Second Embodiment

The second embodiment of the present invention relates to a recordingapparatus that records, by a virtual editing, the CELL information andthe Temp_Cell information described in the first embodiment. FIG. 13depicts an internal structure of a recording apparatus. The recordingapparatus includes a system control unit 1, a disc drive 2, a MPEGdecoder 3, a signal outputting unit 4, a track buffer 5, and a userinterface unit 6. The system control unit 1 includes an address• timecode conversion unit 7 and a playList writing control unit 8.

The system control unit 1 receives, from an operator, specification ofthe point (i.e. Play point) to be reproduced. Once the Play point isspecified, the system control unit 1 specifies which VOBU in a VOBincludes this Play point, and which picture data corresponds to the Playpoint, referring to the TMAPI. Then, the system control unit 1 specifiesthe disc drive 2 to read out the specified VOBU, and the MPEG decoder 3to display only the picture data specified by the Play point in the readVOBU. When two Play points are specified that consist of the startingpoint for the reproduction section (In point), and the ending pointthereof (Out point), the Playlist information including the CELLinformation specifying the reproduction section is written on the DVD.

The disc drive 2 is an apparatus which can load and access a DVD, whichis able to read the VOBU including the picture data in reproducing thepicture data and input the VOBU into the MPEG decoder 3.

The MPEG decoder 3, when the reproduction of the picture data isspecified, obtains uncompressed picture data by decoding the VOBU whichis read from the DVD by the disc drive 2.

The signal outputting unit 4 converts, into a video signal, theuncompressed picture data obtained by the decoding of the MPEG decoder3, and outputs the video signal to a television and the like.

The track buffer 5 is designed to absorb the speed difference betweenthe speed of the DVD in reading VOBUs, and the speed of the MPEG decoder3 in decoding picture data. The sequential reproduction of more than onepicture data is enabled, unless either over flow or under flow does notoccur in this buffer.

The user interface unit 6 receives, through an interactive screen, anoperation on specifying a Play point, an In point, and an Out point.FIG. 14 depicts an example of the interactive screen used for thevirtual editing transaction. As FIG. 14 shows, an interactive screenincludes a rail gu1, a slide bar gu2, a reproduction window gu3, an INbutton gu4, an OUT button gu5, a section specifying button gu6, an Inpoint thumbnail gu7, an Out point thumbnail gu8, and a terminatingbutton gu9. The slide bar gu2 is designed to move along the rail gu1,according to a cursor key operation from a user. Once the position ofthe slide bar gu2 is specified, the system control unit 1 understandsthat the position of the slide bar gu2 on the rail gu1 is the Playpoint. For example, if the VOB is two hours long, and the slide bar gu2is specified in the vicinity of the middle of rail gu1, then the Playpoint is understood to be around one hour from the beginning of the VOB.

On the reproduction window gu3, the picture data which resides on thePlay point is displayed. The IN button gu4 and the OUT button gu5 are toreceive an operation to set an In point and an Out point respectively.And the section specifying button gu6 is to receive an operation toexecute the specification of a reproduction section. The In pointthumbnail gu7 and the Out point thumbnail gu8 are windows for displayingthe thumbnail for the picture data specified by the In point and the Outpoint. The terminating button gu9 is a button for receiving theterminating operation for the virtual editing.

The address•time code conversion unit 7 specifies, according to the timecode, addresses of VOBUs inside the AV file. The time code specifies aPlay point, and In/Out points for a reproduction section. Theaddress•time code conversion unit 7, when the time code has set by auser, identifies which VOBU includes the time code, and which picturedata in the VOBU corresponds to the time code, with reference to theTMAPI. FIG. 15-FIG. 17 are diagrams showing the process performed by theaddress•time code conversion unit 7 for specifying the address of theVOBU according to the time code. Hereafter, the process will bedescribed based on an example of the In point. As FIG. 15 shows, when anIn point is specified by the relative time Tx from the beginning of aVOB, x, y, and z are obtained that satisfy the following expression 1.And by substituting the obtained x and y into the following expression2, the address of the VOBU #I is obtained (FIG. 17). From the obtainedaddress, VOBU is read out from a DVD. And if the system control unit 1indicates the reproduction of the picture data which appears when thetime period z passes from the reproduction starting time of the VOBU,the picture data will be displayed which corresponds to the In point.IN point time code Tx=10 sec×x−TM_DIFF+TM _(—) OFS of TM _(—) ENT#x+1+(VOBU _(—) PB _(—) TM)×y+z  (expression 1)address of VOBU #i=ADR _(—) OFS+VOBU _(—) ADR+VOBU _(—) SZ of TM _(—)ENT #x+1×y  (expression 2)

The Playlist writing control unit 8 writes Playlist information to theDVD, based on the interactive operation from a user. Specifically thePlaylist writing control unit 8 is a program realizing the transactionprocedure depicted in FIG. 18 and FIG. 19. Hereafter, the transactionprocedure that the Playlist writing control unit 8 performs isdescribed, with reference to FIG. 18 and FIG. 19. When the recordingapparatus is started up, the control begins by the loop transactionbetween the step S1 and the Step S4. This loop transaction is repeateduntil the slide bar gu2, the IN button gu4, the OUT button gu5, thesection specifying button gu6, and the transaction terminating buttongu9 are specified. When the slide bar gu2 is specified, the controlmoves from the step S1 to the step S5, and waits until an operation tomove the slide bar gu2 is performed. When the operation to move theslide bar gu2 is performed, the slide bar gu2 is moved at Step S6according to the moving operation. Hereafter, while the moving operationby the user to move the slide bar gu2 continues, the steps S5-S6 movethe slide bar gu2 either to the left or right direction. When the movingoperation for the slide bar gu2 is stopped (Step S5: No), the controlmoves to the step S7, and based on the relative position of the slidebar gu2 assuming that the most left point of the rail gu1 is the basepoint, generates a time code, and specifies the time code as a Playpoint. Here, if the Cell to be edited is assumed to have 1.5hour-length, the most left point of the rail gu1 will be 00 (hour):00(minute):00.00 (second), and the most right point of the rail gu1 willbe 01 (hour):30 (minute):00.00 (second). Based on the stated assumption,the point of the slide bar gu2 in the rail gu1 will be represented astime, (i.e. hour:minute:second). Here, if the assumption is made thatthe slide bar gu2 exists in the middle of the rail gu1, then the timerepresentation will be 00:45:00.00, which will be the Play point.

Then, the picture data specified by the time code is displayed on thereproduction window gu3. from this operation, a Play point in thereproduction section will be specified, due to the moving operation ofthe slide bar gu2. Then, the control moves to the loop transactionconsisting of the step S1-Step S4. In case that the moving operationagainst the slide bar gu2 does not specify the desired Play point, theuser, at Step S, specifies again the slide bar gu2, and fine-tunes theposition of the Play point by repeating the moving operation at StepsS5-S6.

Here, an assumption is made that, after the fine-tuning, the desirablePlay point for the operator is set, and that the IN button gu4 ispushed. In such a case, the Playpoint is specified as the In point atStep S8, and at Step S9, v mark is displayed at the position specifiedas the In point. At Step S10, the time code showing the In point isdisplayed in the form of hour:minute:second. At Step S11, the thumbnailfor the picture data at the In point is displayed at the In pointthumbnail gu7. Through the above process, the In point will be set.After the setting of the In point, the slide bar gu2 is specified, andthe operation for moving this slide bar gu2 is repeated in order tospecify the OUT setting button. And finally, through the same procedureas the In point, the Out point will be specified.

When the above procedure to set the In point and the Out point have beencompleted, the reproduction section is set too. Then, the control movesto the loop transaction of the steps S1-S4. Here, the assumption is madethat the section specifying button gu6 is specified. After the sectionspecifying button gu6 is specified (Step S3: yes), the control moves tothe step S12. At Step S12, the VOB to be edited is set to be VOBI_SRP,and the In point to be Cell_Start_PTM, and generate Cell information inwhich the Out point is set to be Cell_End_PTM. The above transactiondepicted in FIG. 18 will be repeated until n pieces of CELL informationare generated. Then, the transaction in FIG. 18 will be complete withthe pushing of the transaction terminating button gu9, and the controlmoves to the transaction depicted in FIG. 19.

The flow chart in FIG. 19 is a loop structure in which the steps S13-S33are repeated for the CELL information #1-#n−1 (Step S34, Step S35). Inthis flow chart, the assumption is made that the CELL information whichis to be modified is CELL information #x, and the subsequent CELLinformation in the Playlist information is CELL information #x+1. AtStep S13, VOBU # (Out) is specified which includes the picture data atthe Outpoint of there production section #x, likewise, the VOBU # (In)is specified including the picture data at the In point for thereproduction section #x+1. At Step S14, the specification of the visualeffect type is received, and at Step S15, the end vicinity of thereproduction section #x is defined based on the VOBU # (Out) accordingto the visual effect type. At Step S16, the beginning vicinity for thereproduction section #x+1 is specified based on the VOBU # (In). Thereason why end and beginning vicinities are defined based on the visualeffect type, is that in many cases the part to be modified differs foreach visual effect mode. Specifically, for the visual effects such asthe fade-in connection, the fade-out connection, and the cross-fadeconnection, it is a better solution to make users specify the range tobe modified by users' interactive operations, rather than to provide anautomatic setting of the range to be modified. Once the end andbeginning vicinities are specified, at Step S17, it is judged whetherthe sum of the size of the beginning and end vicinities exceeds thepredetermined size of the DVD. This is because the virtual editingaccording to the present embodiment involves the recording of theduplicated part, which inherently requires that, in case that there isscarce free space in a DVD, it should be evaded that the DVD becomesfull. A desirable criteria for deciding the predetermined size of theDVD is, for example, the value obtained from subtracting the data sizecorresponding to 5-10 VOBU from free space of a DVD. If judged to be Yesat Step S17, the transaction corresponding to this flow chart will becomplete, by setting “0” for the Temp_Cell_FLAG of the Cell information#1-#n.

If judged No at Step S17, duplication is performed for the end vicinityof the reproduction section #x and the beginning vicinity of thereproduction section #x+1. Then, the duplicated parts will be written onthe DVD as VOB #z and #z+1. Then, at Step S20, VOB information #z, #z+1,and Temp_Cell information #z, #z+1 are generated and written on the DVD.The transactions up to the step S20 are the same as depicted in FIG. 9which relates to the first embodiment.

At Steps S21-S24, the setting relating to the CELL information isperformed. At Step S21, the Trimming_End_PTM which specifies the picturedata which is 1 video frame before the end vicinity is set to be theCell information #x, and at Step S22, the Trimming_Start_PTM whichspecifies the picture data which is one video frame after the beginningvicinity is set to be the Cell information #x+1. According to the statedsteps, the Trimming_End_PTM specifies the picture data situated at theend of the VOBU # (PreEdge), as the arrow gy1 in FIG. 11 shows.Likewise, as the arrow gy2 shows, the Trimming_Start_PTM specifies thepicture data at the beginning of the VOBU # (PostEdge). At Step S23, theTemp_Cell_FLAG of the Cell information #x is set to be “1”. At Step S24,the Temp_Cell information #z is specified by the Temp_Cell_SRP of theCELL information #x. This generates the link shown by the arrow sy1 inFIG. 11. From the above transaction, the CELL information depicted inFIG. 9 is to be obtained in a DVD.

In the following steps S25-S29, the transaction for the Temp_Cellinformation #z is performed. That is, at Step S25, The VOBI_SRPN of theTemp_Cell information #z is set to be VOB #z, and at Steps 26, theCell_Start_PTM of the Temp_Cell information #z is set to be the picturedata at the beginning of the VOB #z. At Step S27, the Cell_End_PTM ofthe Temp_Cell information #z is set to be the Out point for thereproduction section #x. The stated transaction yields a referencerelation from the Temp_Cell information #z to the VOB #z, which is shownby the arrows cy1 and cy2 in FIG. 11. At Step S28, the Temp_Cellinformation #z+1 is specified by the Temp_Cell_SRP of the Temp_Cellinformation #z. The stated transaction yields a link from the Temp_Cellinformation #z to the Temp_Cell information #z+1, as shown by the arrowyp1. Then, at Step S29, Effect_Type for the Temp_Cell information #z isdefined.

In the following steps S30-S33, the transactions for the Temp_Cellinformation #z+1 are performed. At Step S30, VOBI_SRPN of the Temp_Cellinformation #z+1 is set to be VOB #z+1. At Step S31, the Cell_Start_PTMof the Temp_Cell information #z+1 is set to be the In point for thereproduction section #x+1. At Step S32, the Cell_End_PTM of theTemp_Cell information #z+1 is set to be the end of the VOB #z+1. Thesetransactions yields the reference relation from the Temp_Cellinformation #z+1 to the VOB #z+1, as shown by the arrow cy3 and cy4 inFIG. 11. Then, at Step S33, Effect_Type for the Temp_Cell information #zis set.

According to the above described embodiment of the present invention,the DVD shown by the first embodiment is obtained under a user-friendlyoperation environment, which increases the opportunity of using the DVDshown in the first embodiment.

Third Embodiment

The third embodiment of the present invention relates to a reproductionapparatus for the DVD which stores the CELL information and theTemp_Cell information according to the data structure stated in thefirst embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 20 is a diagram showingthe internal structure of the reproduction apparatus relating to thethird embodiment. As FIG. 20 shows, the reproduction apparatus of thethird embodiment is based on the internal structure of the recordingapparatus of the second embodiment. Accordingly the same constitutingelements will be assigned the same reference number, and the descriptionthereof will be omitted. The only difference is that, in the thirdembodiment, the Playlist reproduction control unit 9 is added inside thesystem control unit 1.

In addition, the MPEG decoder 3 relating to the third embodiment,performs a trimming transaction for the reproduction purpose based onthe Playlist information. The trimming transaction is a limiting actionfor the reproduction range. The trimming transaction starts with thereception of the specification of an In point and an Out point for areproduction section from the Playlist reproduction control unit 9, andthen outputs the uncompressed picture data which only belongs to therange from the In point and the Out point, without outputting theuncompressed picture data for the images belonging to the out of therange.

The Playlist reproduction control unit 9 which is a new addition to thethird embodiment is a constituting element for controlling thereproduction based on the Playlist information recorded on an opticaldisc. Specifically the Playlist reproduction control unit 9 is a programwhich realizes transaction procedure depicted in FIG. 21 and FIG. 22.The transaction procedure performed by the Playlist reproduction controlunit 9 is described with reference to the flow chart in FIG. 21 and FIG.22. In the flow chart, at Step S40, PLI including the CELL information#1-#n, and the Temp_Cell information #1-#m is read from a DVD andretained inside the apparatus. Then, the steps S41-S61 will be repeatedfor the CELL information #1-#n−1 (Step S62, S63). In the repetition oftransactions, assumptions are made that the CELL information to bemodified is called CELL information #x, and that the subsequent CELLinformation is called CELL information #x+1. At Step S41, it is judgedwhether the Temp_Cell_FLAG is “0” or not. If it is judged to be “0”, atStep S42, the VOBU # (In) is specified which includes the In point inthe reproduction section #x, based on the VOBI_SRPN and Cell_Start_PTMof the CELL information #x. Then, at Step S43, the VOBU # (Out)including the Out point in the reproduction section #x is specified,based on the VOBI_SRPN and the Cell_End_PTM of the CELL information #X.

At Step S44, the VOBU # (In) through the VOBU # (Out) are read out andinputted into the MPEG decoder 3. At Step S45, the trimming transactionof the outputting image from the In point to the Out point is instructedto the MPEG decoder 3. FIG. 23 is a diagram showing the reading rangespecified at Step S44 and the reproduction range specified at Step S45.In FIG. 23, the reading range ym1 specifies up to the end of the endvicinity, while the reproduction range ym2 specifies up to the Out pointin the reading range ym1. Likewise, the reading range ym3 in FIG. 23specifies the reading from the beginning of the beginning vicinity, andthe reproducing range ym4 specifies In point and after in the readingrange ym3.

On the other hand, when it is judged that the Temp_Cell_FLAG is “1”, atStep S46, it is judged whether a preceding reproduction section existsor not. If a preceding reproduction section does not exist, at Step S47,the VOBU # (In) including the In point in the reproduction section #x isspecified, based on the VOBI_SRPN and the Cell_Start_PTM of the CELLinformation #x. On the contrary, when a preceding reproduction sectionexists, at Step S48, the VOBU # (PostEdge) situated immediately afterthe beginning vicinity in the reproduction section #x+1 is specified,based on the VOBI_SRPN and the Trimming_Start_PTM of the CELLinformation.

After the specification, at Step S49, the VOBU # (PreEdge) is specifiedwhich is situated immediately before the end vicinity in thereproduction section #x, based on the VOBI_SRPN and the Trimming_End_PTMof the CELL information.

At Step S50, either from VOBU # (In) or from VOBU # (PostEdge) to theVOBU # (PreEdge) is read out, and inputted into the MPEG decoder 3. FIG.24 shows the reading range specified at Step S50 and the reproductionrange specified at Step S50. As is clear, The reading range yt1 and thereproduction range yt2 in FIG. 24 specifies up to the end of the VOBU #(PreEdge).

Next, at Step S51, the Temp_Cell information #z specified by theTemp_Cell_SRP of the CELL information #x is read out, and at Step S52,the VOB #z corresponding to the duplicated part of the end vicinity inthe reproduction section #x is specified, according to the VOBinformation_SRPN of the Temp_Cell information #z. At Step S53, theCell_End_PTM of the Temp_Cell information #z is set to be the Out point,and at Step S54, the VOB #z is read out and inputted into the MPEGdecoder 3. Then, at Step S55, an instruction for trimming from thepicture data at the beginning of the VOB #z and the picture dataspecified by the Out point is provided. The arrow yp1 in FIG. 24 showsthe reading range specified at Step S54, and the arrow yp2 shows thereproduction range specified at Step S55. The reading range yp1specifies the entire VOB #z, while the reproduction range yp2 specifiesthe reading range yp1 up to the Out point. From this operation, theimage output is limited up to the Out point in the CELL information.

At Step S56, it is judged whether the specification by the Temp_Cell_SRPof the Temp_Cell information #z exists or not. If it is judged to exist,at Step S57, the Temp_Cell information #z+1 specified by theTemp_Cell_SRP of the Temp_Cell information #z is read out, and at StepS58, the VOB #z+1 corresponding to the duplicated part of the beginningvicinity in the reproduction section #x+1 is specified, according to theVOBI_SRPN of the Temp_Cell information #z+1. At Step S59, theCell_Start_PTM of the Temp_Cell information #z+1 is specified as the Inpoint, and at Step S60, the VOB #z+1 is read out and inputted into theMPEG decoder 3. At Step S61, an instruction for trimming from thepicture data specified by the In point to the end of the VOB #z+1 isprovided. The arrow hp1 in FIG. 24 shows the reading range specified atStep S60, and the arrow hp2 shows the reproduction range specified atthe step S61. The reading range hp1 specifies the entire VOB #z+1, whilethe reproduction range hp2 specifies the reading range hp1 from the Inpoint up to the end. From this transaction, the image output is limitedafter the In point in the subsequent reproduction section.

According to the present embodiment, existing reproduction apparatusescan perform reproduction according to Temp_Cell_FLAG of Cellinformation, which increases the opportunity of utilizing the DVD of thefirst embodiment.

Fourth Embodiment

The fourth embodiment relates to a recording apparatus realizing anon-linear editing for moving image data, by using a hard disc (HD)array. FIG. 25 is a diagram showing an internal structure of a recordingapparatus relating to the fourth embodiment. The recording apparatus inFIG. 25 is based on the internal structure of the reproduction apparatusshown in FIG. 20. Accordingly, the same constituting element is assignedthe same reference number, and the description thereof is omitted inthis embodiment. The difference existing in the recording apparatusshown in FIG. 25 from that of FIG. 20 is that 1) FIG. 25 includes a HDarray 10 (including an end-vicinity storage unit 11, abeginning-vicinity storage unit 12, and an editing result storage unit13), a semiconductor memory 15 (including an end-vicinity frame memory16, a beginning-vicinity frame memory 17, and an editing result framememory 18), a non-linear editing unit 19, and a MPEG encoder 20, andthat 2) the Playlist writing control unit 8 is replaced by the Playlistwriting control unit 14.

The HD array 10 is a disc apparatus which enables a higher speed accessthan a DVD, and includes an end-vicinity storage unit 11, abeginning-vicinity storage unit 12, and an editing result storage unit13. The reason why the HD array 10 stores the beginning and endvicinities is that in a non-linear editing, high-speed data transfer isrequired such as four times as faster than an ordinary hard disc.

The Playlist writing control unit 14 is a constituting element which isbased on the Playlist writing control unit 8 shown by the firstembodiment, with a difference in the action after specifying the end andbeginning vicinities from that of the Playlist writing control unit 8.That is, the Playlist writing control unit 14, after specification ofend and beginning vicinities at Steps S15-S16, reads the pictured at aconstituting the end and beginning vicinities and have the MPEG decoder3 decode the picture data. Once the picture data are converted intouncompressed picture data, the Playlist writing control unit 14 writesthe uncompressed picture data constituting the end vicinity to theend-vicinity storage unit 11 belonging to the HD array 10, and theuncompressed picture data constituting the beginning vicinity to thebeginning-vicinity storage unit 12. By the above transaction, thepicture data, in an uncompressed state, which constitutes VOB #z and VOB#z+1 are stored in the HD array 10.

The semiconductor memory 15 includes an end-vicinity frame memory 16, abeginning-vicinity frame memory 17, and an editing result frame memory18. Uncompressed picture data constituting the end vicinity stored inthe end vicinity storage unit 11, are exploded into each frame ofpicture data in the end-vicinity frame memory 16. Likewise, in thebeginning vicinity frame memory 17, uncompressed picture dataconstituting the beginning vicinity stored in the beginning vicinitystorage unit 12, are exploded into each frame of picture data. Finally,the editing result frame memory 18 stores uncompressed picture dataobtained by providing the uncompressed picture data stored in theseframe memories with image modification.

A non-linear editing unit 19 is an application program for conducting avariety of moving image modification according to a user operation. Themoving image modification performed by the non-linear editing unit 19makes image modification for each of a plurality of uncompressed picturedata stored in the end-vicinity storage unit 11 and in thebeginning-vicinity storage unit 12 independently. Specifically, thenon-linear editing unit 19 takes out each of the plurality of theuncompressed picture data stored in the end-vicinity storage unit 11 andthe uncompressed pictured data stored in the beginning-vicinity storageunit 12 to the end-vicinity frame memory 16 and to thebeginning-vicinity frame memory 17 respectively. Then, the non-linearediting unit 19 has these frame memories explode into pixel dataconstituting an image, and performs a pixel operation to the pixel datastored in these frame memories, and takes the result of the pixeloperation to the frame memory 18. When the image modification iscompleted for picture data for one frame, the non-linear editing unit 19stores the picture data stored in the editing result frame memory 18 inthe editing result storage unit 13. The above mentioned modification isperformed for each piece of the uncompressed picture data stored in theend-vicinity storage unit 11 and for each piece of the uncompressedpicture data stored in the beginning-vicinity storage unit 12. Thenon-linear editing unit 19 performs an operation for each pixel, whichenables more advanced modification than the various modificationtechniques described in the first embodiment. Examples for the imagemodification enabled by the non-linear editing unit 19 include afiltering which is to be performed for each piece of picture data and alayer-synthetic technique which is to be performed for a plurality ofpieces of picture data at the same time, and the like. The filteringconducts a pixel operation to the pixels constituting each piece ofpicture data, which yields an image expression technique such asembossment, peripheral extraction, and mosaic method and the like. Thelayer synthetic technique is a modification technique by which each ofthe picture data constituting the end vicinity and the picture dataconstituting the beginning vicinity is assigned to a different layer,and which creates a synthetic image by overlapping these layers. Notethat it is also possible to install the non-linear editing unit 19inside the system control unit 1.

The MPEG encoder 20 encodes the uncompressed picture data written on theediting result storage unit 13, in order to obtain VOB #z and #z+1, andoutputs them to the track buffer 5. The picture data outputted to thetrack buffer will be stored, in correspondence with the VOB informationand the Temp_Cell information in the DVD, under control of the Playlistwriting control unit 14 stated earlier.

As stated in the above, the present embodiment enables to write a finalediting result on a DVD, while using the HD array for moving imagemodification which require high-speed access. This realizes moreadvanced image editing. In addition, the present embodiment enablesspecification of an editing result by means of Temp_Cell information.This facilitates a recovery in editing, by switching the set value forthe Temp_Cell_FLAG.

Fifth Embodiment

The fifth embodiment of the present invention relates to a reproductionapparatus equipped with a hard disc array. FIG. 26 is a diagram showingthe internal structure of the reproduction apparatus relating to thefifth embodiment. The reproduction apparatus in FIG. 26 is based on thestructure of the recording apparatus shown in FIG. 25. Accordingly, sameconstituting elements as those in FIG. 25 are assigned same referencenumbers and omitted for description in this embodiment. The differencesexisting in the reproduction apparatus in FIG. 26 is that FIG. 26 has,inside the system control unit 1, a Temp_cell information look aheadcontrol unit 21 and a Playlist reproduction control unit 23, and thatthe non-linear editing unit 19 is replaced by a non-linear editing unit22.

The temp_Cell information look ahead control unit 21 performs look aheadprocessing, when the reproduction based on Playlist information isspecified. When the reproduction of the reproduction section based onthe Playlist information is specified, this look ahead processing isdesigned to read, in advance, VOB #z and #z+1 specified before thespecification of the CELL information, and to output the stated VOB #zand #z+1 to the MPEG decoder 3. Then, a decoding for the read VOB #z and#z+1 is performed by the MPEG decoder 3, in order to obtain uncompressedpicture data. Then, the uncompressed picture data included in the VOB #zis stored in the end-vicinity storage unit 11, and the uncompressedpictured at a included in the VOB #z+1 is stored in thebeginning-vicinity storage unit 12.

The non-linear editing unit 22, in the look ahead processing of a VOBdescribed in the above, before receiving a user operation, is able totake the uncompressed picture data stored in the end-vicinity storageunit 11 and in the beginning-vicinity storage unit 12 to theend-vicinity frame memory 16 and to the beginning-vicinity frame memory17 respectively, and to execute the moving image edition according tothe Effect_Type included in the Temp_Cell information. Here, if theEffect_Type included in the Temp_Cell information shows a fade-out, thena fade-out is performed to the uncompressed picture data constitutingthe VOB #z and VOB #z+1. If the Effect_Type shows a filtering or a layersynthetic, a fade-out is performed to the uncompressed pictured at aconstituting VOB #z and VOB #z+1. Every time editing results for oneframe are obtained, the results will be stored in the editing resultstorage unit 13. After the above transaction, the completion ofmodification will be notified to the Playlist reproduction control unit23.

The Playlist reproduction control unit 23, for the most part, is basedon the function of the Playlist reproduction control unit 9 shown by thethird embodiment, but performs a peculiar transaction to the fifthembodiment. The playlist reproduction control unit 9 according to thethird embodiment, after inputting the preceding reproduction section upto the VOBU # (PreEdge) (at Step S50 in FIG. 22), inputs, in the MPEGdecoder 3, the VOB #z and #z+1 specified by the VOBI_SRP of the VOB #zand #z+1 that are specified by the VOBI_SRP of the Temp_Cellinformation. On the contrary, the Playlist reproduction control unit 23according to the fifth embodiment reads out, from the editing resultstorage unit 13, the editing result obtained from the editing performedby the non-linear editing unit, in stead of reading the VOB #z and #z+1recorded on the DVD, and inputs the editing result to the signaloutputting unit 4.

The editing result stored in the editing result storage unit 13 isobtained from the editing according to the Effect_Type performed by thenon-linear editing unit 22. The VOB #z and #z+1 will be replaced by thisediting result, which means that in the reproduction of the Playlistinformation, the end vicinity of the preceding reproduction section andthe beginning vicinity of the subsequent reproduction section are to bereplaced by picture data with varieties of visual effects.

As seen from the above, according to the present embodiment, the VOB #zand #z+1 specified by the Temp_Cell information is read in advance inthe look ahead processing and edited in advance, during the reproductionof the Playlist information. This enables the reproduction thereofimmediately after the completion of the virtual editing.

Sixth Embodiment

The sixth embodiment of the present invention is equipped with two MPEGdecoders, and relates to an advanced reproduction apparatus in which thedecoding of a two different types of VOBs is enabled. FIG. 27 is adiagram showing the internal structure relating to the sixth embodiment.The structure of the recording apparatus depicted in FIG. 27 is based onthe structure of the reproduction apparatus depicted in FIG. 26.Accordingly, the same constituting element is assigned the samereference number, and the description thereof is omitted. The differenceis that the MPEG decoder 3 in FIG. 26 is replaced by a MPEG decoder 24and a MPEG decoder 25 in this embodiment, and the non-linear editingunit 22 is replaced by a non-linear editing unit 26.

The MPEG decoder 24, which is one MPEG decoder out of two decodes thereproduction section specified by the CELL information either from theCell_Start_PTM or from the Trimming_Start_PTM to the Trimming_End_PTM.The other MPEG decoder 25, on the other hand, decodes the reproductionsection specified by the Temp_Cell information, so as to obtainuncompressed picture data, and writes the uncompressed picture dataeither to the end-vicinity storage unit 11 or to the beginning-vicinitystorage unit 12.

The non-linear editing unit 26 sequentially takes out, to theend-vicinity frame memory and to the beginning-vicinity frame memory 17,the uncompressed picture data stored in the end-vicinity storage unit 11and in the beginning-vicinity storage unit 12 respectively. Then, thenon-linear editing unit 26 makes a modification to the uncompressedpicture data according to the Effect_Type, and stores the modificationresult in the editing result frame memory 18. Every time themodification to one frame of uncompressed picture data is completed, thenon-linear editing unit 26 writes the modification result to the editingresult storage unit 13.

The MPEG decoder 25 and the non-linear editing unit 26 perform the abovestated transaction until the MPEG decoder 24 completes decoding. Whenthe decoding of a VOB is completed by the MPEG decoder 24, the signaloutputting unit 4 outputs and reproduces the uncompressed picture datastored in the editing result storage unit 13.

According to the above embodiment seen from the above, a simultaneousexecution is enabled of a decoding of the reproduction section eitherfrom the Cell_Start_PTM or from the Trimming_Start_PTM to theTrimming_End_PTM, and a decoding and a moving image editing of thereproduction section specified by the Temp_Cell information. Therefore,when the Temp_Cell information is specified, a user can enjoy the visualeffects such as a fade-in connection, a fade-out connection, and across-fade connection and the like, without even noticing that themodification to the VOB is performed.

Seventh Embodiment

The seventh embodiment of the present invention relates to modificationtechniques such as a wipe, a slide, and the like, which will be added tothe Effect_Type. FIG. 28A-FIG. 28C show how the wipe transition isperformed, and FIG. 29A-FIG. 29C relate to how the slide transition isperformed.

The wipe is a visual effect which is performed as follows. An image Aincluded at the end of the preceding reproduction section is overlappedon an image B included in the beginning vicinity of the subsequentreproduction section, as depicted in FIG. 28A. And then, the image A atthe end section will be moved either in the direction of wy1 or wy2 onthe screen, in order to display, on a screen C, the image B initiallyhidden by the image A.

The slide is a visual effect which is performed as follows. As depictedin FIG. 29A, an image A included in the end vicinity of the precedingreproduction section and the image B included in the beginning vicinityof the subsequent reproduction section is placed adjacent to each other.Then by slightly moving the beginning vicinity image as shown by thearrows wy3, wy4, so as to push the end image A, display of the image atthe beginning vicinity is performed. The recording apparatus relating tothe seventh embodiment writes the Effect_Type indicating these wipe andslide to the Temp_Cell information.

FIG. 30 depicts the internal structure of the reproduction apparatusconcerning the seventh embodiment. As FIG. 30 shows, the reproductionapparatus is structured basically the same as the reproduction apparatusrelating to the fifth embodiment shown in FIG. 25.

The MPEG decoder 3 according to the seventh embodiment converts,according to the Temp_Cell information, the picture data at the endvicinity and the picture data at the beginning vicinity intouncompressed picture data.

The non-linear editing unit 19 conducts a wipe or a slide according tothe Effect_Type to the uncompressed picture data stored in theend-vicinity storage unit 11 and in the beginning-vicinity storage unit12, and outputs the result to the signal outputting unit 4 fordisplaying purpose.

Seen from the above, the present embodiment enables a visual effect suchas a wipe and a slide in recording the Temp_Cell information, whichincreases the variation in editing moving images.

Eighth Embodiment

From the first to the seventh embodiments, the duplicated part waswritten on a DVD as VOB #z and #z+1. In the above case, when thecontinuous length is short for each of the VOB #z and #z+1, an underflow might occur in the track buffer 5, between the time for the readingfrom the VOB #z and the reading from the VOB #z+1, or between the timefor reading from the VOB #z+1 to the reading from the VOB #x+1. That is,when the continuous length is short, the visual interruption willanyways occur in reproduction, due to the under flow which occurs in thetrack buffer 5, even if modification depicted in any one from the firstto the seventh embodiment was performed. To avoid the above, therecording apparatus in the eighth embodiment performs a transactioncalled “merge.” The merge transaction is a technique by which VOB #z andVOB #z+1 are connected and arranged so that the data length for theconnecting part exceeds a predetermined data length.

Here, the recording area in a DVD is divided into a plurality of sectorsof 2048 bytes each, and further into a plurality of ECC blocks of 16sectors each that are continuous. If the VOB is composed of a pluralityof packs having 2048 bytes each, the predetermined data length will be asize corresponding to the number of ECC block which is “N_ecc” in thefollowing expression:N _(—) ecc=Vo*Tj/((16*8*2048)*(1−Vo/Vr))

In the above expression, Tj signifies a maximum jump time period in anoptical pick up for the reproduction apparatus, Vr signifies ainputting-transferring rate for a track buffer (Mbps), and Vo signifiesan outputting-transmitting rate for a track buffer (Mbps).

Note that the basis for the above expression is detailed in theabove-mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 6,148,140 publication. Further, theduplicated part may also be defined by the recording apparatus, at thetime of writing the duplicated part, so that the duplicated partsatisfies the stated continuous length.

According to the present embodiment, as seen from the above, the datalength of a duplicated part in a manner that the track buffer will notunderflow is defined when duplication is performed, which enables toavoid an interruption in reproduction due to an underflow.

Ninth Embodiment

The ninth embodiment relates to a recording apparatus performing amodification taking into account the recording capacity of a DVD. In thesecond embodiment, every time a virtual editing is performed, theduplicated parts at the end and beginning vicinities are written on aDVD. This means that if the virtual editing is repeated and many piecesof CELL information is generated, the capacity of the DVD will bereduced accordingly. This increases the possibility that the opticaldisc becomes full. Taking this problem into account, the ninthembodiment is structured to display, to the user, whether the discallows the modification. Only when the user's answer is positive to themodification, the modification mode is set for the recording apparatus.On the contrary, if the user's answer is not positive to themodification, then the non-modification mode is set. The recordingapparatus according to the ninth embodiment is structured to perform themodification described in the second embodiment, only when the apparatusis set to be a modification mode. When the non-modification mode is setto the apparatus, the recording apparatus of the present embodiment doesnot perform the modification of the second embodiment. This structureenables to write many other VOBs in a DVD than the second embodiment.

In addition, when a DVD which stores duplicated parts is embedded and noempty space exists in the DVD for writing other VOBs, the recordingapparatus according to the ninth embodiment displays on whether theempty space should be allocated. And when the user wishes to have anempty space, the empty space will be allocated by deleting VOBsspecified by Temp_Cell information, VOB information corresponding to theVOB, and the Temp_Cell information.

According to the present embodiment, seen from the above, it can beavoided that a disc will be full, relating to recording the duplicatedparts described in the second embodiment.

This is the end of the description of all the embodiments. Note that theabove are only examples of systems that can be hoped to yield the besteffects. Therefore, the modifications within the scope of the purpose ofthis invention are possible. A representative modification examplesinclude the following (A), (B), (C), and so on.

(A) From the first to the seventh embodiments, parts to be duplicatedare an end part of a preceding reproduction section and a beginning partof a subsequent reproduction section. However, it is also possible toduplicate any part inside a VOB, and to have Temp_Cell informationspecify the part. From the first to seventh embodiments, an example inwhich each of the VOB #x, and #x+1 has two or more reproduction sectionsrespectively is described. However, it is also possible that a VOB hastwo or more reproduction sections.

(B) From the first to seventh embodiments, an assumption is made that aDVD such as DVD-RAM, DVD-RW and the like, which can record moving imagedata in accordance with the DVD-video recording standard for a recordingmedium. However, if it is a recording medium that can record movingimage data, the physical structure does not matter. For example, it ispossible to use a phase change optical disc other than DVD-RAM, DVD-RW,such as a PD, DVD+RW, CD-RW, and the like. Further, a write once typeoptical disc such as CD-R, DVD-R and the like (i), a magneto-opticalrecording disc such as MO (Magneto-optical disc), MD-DAT (Minidisc-Data), iD form at and the like (ii), a removable hard disc drivesuch as ORB, Jaz, SparQ, SyJet, EzFley, micro drives and the like (iii),a magneto recording disc such as floppy discs, SuperDisk, Zip, Clik! andthe like (iv), flash memory cards such as SD memory cards, CompactFlashcard, SmartMedia, memory stick, multimedia card, PCM-CIA card andthe like (v).

(C) In case that a DVD is used for a computer recording medium, thefollowing structure works. That is, the disc drive 2 is structured as aDVD drive apparatus which is connected to a computer bus through aninterface which is in accordance with the SCSI, IDE, or IEEE1394.Further, other constituting elements than the disc drive 2 in thecorresponding figures will perform their function by having the OS or anapplication program executed on a computer hardware.

(D) In the embodiments, video streams and audio streams are multiplexedin a VOB. However, it is also possible to multiplex them with asub-video stream in which run-length compression is performed on captiontext, or with other control information.

(E) In the present embodiments, description is based on a video framefor a display period of picture data. However, for compressing 24frame/second image such as a film material, 3:2 pull-down is used. Insuch a case, there is a possibility that 1.5 frame=1 picture, as opposedto 1 frame=1 picture. The present invention does not, in substance,depend on a video frame, and is applicable to various frames per unittime. The embodiments are not limited to the video frame accordingly.

(F) In the specification, a modification apparatus was not described.This is because the recording apparatus and the apparatus which performsmoving image modification are dealt with as a different apparatus in themarket. That is, the writing of AV files or management files are usuallyperformed by a DVD recorder which is one of consumer appliances, such asDMR-E20 by Panasonic and the like. On the contrary, the abovemodification is frequently performed by a personal computer to which anexternal drive apparatus is connected through a connector IEEE1394, andin which a digital image editing program such as “Motion DV STUDIO” and“DVD MovieAlbum” is installed.

However, the present specification does not exclude a possibility of asingle-piece construction between a recording apparatus and amodification apparatus. Therefore, the above mentioned modificationapparatus and the recording apparatus or the reproduction apparatusdescribed in any one of the second-ninth embodiments are constructed asa single-piece. Therefore, although from the second to the ninthembodiments, the recording apparatus and the reproduction apparatus aredescribed as a different embodiment from each other, the purpose is tofacilitate understanding, and it is also possible to use the recordingapparatus and the reproduction apparatus as a single-piece.

(G) In all the embodiments described, an optical disc is to recordseveral kinds of data in a format in accordance with the DVD-Videorecording standard. However, other recording standards will do if theyassume that the data will be edited.

(H) From the fourth to sixth embodiments, the description was based on ahard disc array as an example. However, one hard disc may replace thehard disc array.

(I) In all the embodiments, Temp_Cell_FLAG is used for switching betweenreproduction “via” and “not via” the duplicated part. However, it isalso possible to perform switching according to a user operation withoutusing this Temp_Cell_FLAG.

Although the present invention has been fully described by way ofexample with reference to accompanying drawing, it is to be noted thatvarious changes and modifications will be apparent to those skilled inthe art. Therefore, unless otherwise such changes and modificationsdepart from scope of the present invention, they should be constructedas being included therein.

1. A recording apparatus comprising: a receive unit configured toreceive at least one reproduction section of digital stream, the digitalstream being recorded on a recording medium; and a write unit configuredto generate, when at least two pieces of the reproduction section arereceived, a duplicated part by duplicating an end vicinity of thedigital stream corresponding to a preceding reproduction section and abeginning vicinity of the digital stream corresponding to a subsequentreproduction section, the preceding reproduction section and thesubsequent reproduction section being of the two pieces of thereproduction section, and link information including a starting positionfor the end vicinity in the preceding reproduction section and an endingposition for the beginning vicinity in the subsequent reproductionsection, and write the generated duplicated part and a flag, wherein theduplicated part is modified to connect the end vicinity and thebeginning vicinity seamlessly, the flag indicates whether to reproduce apart before the end vicinity and a part after the beginning vicinity viathe duplicated part by using the link information, or to reproduce thedigital stream corresponding to the preceding reproduction section andthe digital stream corresponding to the subsequent reproduction sectionwithout reproducing the duplicated part, when the flag indicates toreproduce the part before the end vicinity and the part after thebeginning vicinity via the duplicated part, the starting position showsa point where to transition from the preceding reproduction section to astart of the duplicated part, and the ending position shows a pointwhere to transition from an end of the duplicated part to the subsequentreproduction section, the starting position included in the linkinformation is positioned after a starting point of the precedingreproduction section and is positioned before an ending point of thepreceding reproduction section, and the ending position included in thelink information is positioned after a starting point of the subsequentreproduction section and is positioned before an ending point of thesubsequent reproduction section.
 2. A recording method comprising:receiving, using a receive unit, at least one reproduction section ofdigital stream, the digital stream being recorded on a recording medium;generating, when at least two pieces of the reproduction section arereceived, a duplicated part by duplicating an end vicinity of thedigital stream corresponding to a preceding reproduction section and abeginning vicinity of the digital stream corresponding to a subsequentreproduction section, the preceding reproduction section and thesubsequent reproduction section being of the two pieces of thereproduction section; generating link information including a startingposition for the end vicinity in the preceding reproduction section andan ending position for the beginning vicinity in the subsequentreproduction section; and writing the generated duplicated part and aflag, wherein the duplicated part is modified to connect the endvicinity and the beginning vicinity seamlessly, the flag indicateswhether to reproduce a part before the end vicinity and a part after thebeginning vicinity via the duplicated part by using the linkinformation, or to reproduce the digital stream corresponding to thepreceding reproduction section and the digital stream corresponding tothe subsequent reproduction section without reproducing the duplicatedpart, when the flag indicates to reproduce the part before the endvicinity and the part after the beginning vicinity via the duplicatedpart, the starting position shows a point where to transition from thepreceding reproduction section to a start of the duplicated part, andthe ending position shows a point where to transition from an end of theduplicated part to the subsequent reproduction section, the startingposition included in the link information is positioned after a startingpoint of the preceding reproduction section and is positioned before anending point of the preceding reproduction section, and the endingposition included in the link information is positioned after a startingpoint of the subsequent reproduction section and is positioned before anending point of the subsequent reproduction section.
 3. A non-transitoryrecording medium comprising: digital stream; a duplicated part; linkinformation; and a flag, wherein the duplicated part is obtained byduplicating an end vicinity of the digital stream corresponding to apreceding reproduction section and a beginning vicinity of the digitalstream corresponding to a subsequent reproduction section, and ismodified to connect the end vicinity and the beginning vicinityseamlessly, the link information includes a starting position for theend vicinity in the preceding reproduction section and an endingposition for the beginning vicinity in the subsequent reproductionsection, the flag indicates whether to reproduce a part before the endvicinity and a part after the beginning vicinity via the duplicated partby using the link information, or to reproduce the digital streamcorresponding to the preceding reproduction section and the digitalstream corresponding to the subsequent reproduction section withoutreproducing the duplicated part, when the flag indicates to reproducethe part before the end vicinity and the part after the beginningvicinity via the duplicated part, the starting position shows a pointwhere to transition from the preceding reproduction section to a startof the duplicated part, and the ending position shows a point where totransition from an end of the duplicated part to the subsequentreproduction section, the starting position included in the linkinformation is positioned after a starting point of the precedingreproduction section and is positioned before an ending point of thepreceding reproduction section, and the ending position included in thelink information is positioned after a starting point of the subsequentreproduction section and is positioned before an ending point of thesubsequent reproduction section.
 4. A reproducing apparatus comprising:a read out unit configured to read out, from a recording medium, digitalstream, a duplicated part, link information, and a flag indicating on oroff, the duplicated part being obtained by duplicating an end vicinityof the digital stream corresponding to a preceding reproduction sectionand a beginning vicinity of the digital stream corresponding to asubsequent reproduction section, and being modified to connect the endvicinity and the beginning vicinity seamlessly, the link informationincluding a starting position for the end vicinity in the precedingreproduction section and an ending position for the beginning vicinityin the subsequent reproduction section; and a reproduce unit configuredto reproduce, a part before the end vicinity and a part after thebeginning vicinity via the duplicated part by using the link informationwhen the flag indicates on, the digital stream corresponding to thepreceding reproduction section and the digital stream corresponding tothe subsequent reproduction section without reproducing the duplicatedpart when the flag indicates off, when the flag indicates on, thereproduce unit transitions from the preceding reproduction section to astart of the duplicated part at the starting position, and transitionsfrom an end of the duplicated part to the subsequent reproductionsection at the ending position, the starting position included in thelink information is positioned after a starting point of the precedingreproduction section and is positioned before an ending point of thepreceding reproduction section, and the ending position included in thelink information is positioned after a starting point of the subsequentreproduction section and is positioned before an ending point of thesubsequent reproduction section.
 5. A reproducing method comprising:reading out, from a recording medium, digital stream, a duplicated part,link information, and a flag indicating on or off, the duplicated partbeing obtained by duplicating an end vicinity of the digital streamcorresponding to a preceding reproduction section and a beginningvicinity of the digital stream corresponding to a subsequentreproduction section, and being modified to connect the end vicinity andthe beginning vicinity seamlessly, the link information including astarting position for the end vicinity in the preceding reproductionsection and an ending position for the beginning vicinity in thesubsequent reproduction section; and reproducing, using a reproduceunit, a part before the end vicinity and a part after the beginningvicinity via the duplicated part by using the link information when theflag indicates on, the digital stream corresponding to the precedingreproduction section and the digital stream corresponding to thesubsequent reproduction section without reproducing the duplicated partwhen the flag indicates off, when the flag indicates on, reproductiontransitions from the preceding reproduction section to a start of theduplicated part at the starting position, and transitions from an end ofthe duplicated part to the subsequent reproduction section at the endingposition, the starting position included in the link information ispositioned after a starting point of the preceding reproduction sectionand is positioned before an ending point of the preceding reproductionsection, and the ending position included in the link information ispositioned after a starting point of the subsequent reproduction sectionand is positioned before an ending point of the subsequent reproductionsection.